Carte photographique de la lune, planche XXII (Photographic Chart of the Moon, plate XXII) Possibly 1904 - 1914

Charles Le Morvan made this photographic chart of the moon, plate XXII, using light and chemicals. It’s a map, but it's also a portrait, revealing the moon’s pock-marked surface as if it were a face, aged and weathered. I can imagine Le Morvan, hunched over his equipment, coaxing these images into existence. What was it like to capture something so distant, to bring the celestial down to earth through the alchemy of photography? The tones, ranging from deep blacks to soft greys, create a tactile surface. The edge of the moon, the curved horizon, feels almost like a brushstroke, defining the shape with subtle variations in tone and texture. It reminds me of the way a painter might build up layers of paint to suggest depth and form. Painters like Vija Celmins or Gerhard Richter, they also chase the moon. We share this human desire to record, interpret, and connect with the universe. It’s all one big conversation, and we’re all just trying to figure it out as we go along.